The Vizio E-Series is a budget-priced television set, but don’t let the great price fool you. The E-Series has one of the displays in terms of image quality that you’ll find for the money, thanks in large part to the local dimming (which you typically have to pay a lot more money for.) Let’s dive into the features and design of the Vizio E-Series to see if it’s worth your attention.

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There've been a lot of options for toy drones over the years, and you may think that they're all pretty much the same. At first glance, that's understandable since they typically lack the premium features you find on more prosumer level drones, like 4K cameras. That's why I appreciate what Spin Master is doing with the new Air Hogs Supernova. I've covered Spin Master products in the past, and usually come away impressed - this time is no different. Spin Master sent over the Air Hogs Supernova for me to test out, and it actually took away some of my uneasiness about using more expensive drones that I’ve acquired in the past.

The Supernova is Spin Master's first motion-controlled drone. Don't expect it to be as feature-rich as the DJI Mavic Air, but do expect to be able to pull off some pretty impressive tricks with hardware that's responsive and kid-friendly to boot.

Amazon is trying to get its Alexa voice assistant into as many homes as possible. Its latest offering: The Fire TV Cube, which essentially turns any TV into a smart TV with Alexa voice control. We try it out live on this episode. The integration with certain apps, like Netflix and Hulu, is pretty cool. Simply saying "Alexa, play Stranger Things," opened the Netflix app and started playing right where we left off. Using voice control to fast forward, switch TV inputs and open apps also works well. But for other apps that aren't integrated, like Sling TV, the experience isn't quite so smooth. The box also doesn't work with over-the-air cable TV, as some reports said it would. In other news, Oculus announced a new virtual reality TV app this week, and some people are unimpressed. We also dive into a report that points to a new line of AirPods coming before the end of the year, including higher-end over-the-ear headphones.

Listen to the episode in the player below or subscribe to Geared Up in your favorite podcast app to listen on the go:

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E3, the biggest gaming convention in the U.S., started with a bang this week. Geared Up co-host Andru Edwards is down in Los Angeles for the show and on this episode, we run down the big game announcements of the year from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft is pushing to make more Xbox-exclusive games by buying four popular game studios and founding another studio of its own; Sony's games didn't stand out as much as its bizarre press conference; and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros was the hit of the convention. Plus, an intriguing new study on something most people want nothing to do with: Airport WiFi.

Listen to the episode in the player below or subscribe to Geared Up in your favorite podcast app to listen on the go:

During today's WWDC 2018 keynote, Apple announced the next generation of its mobile software in iOS 12. Here are the biggest points of news for iOS 12:

PERFORMANCE

Apple is doubling down on performance with the aim of making devices faster and more devices

iOS 12 will be available on all the same devices that support iOS 11 - this includes devices that shipped back in 2013.

Apps launch twice as fast on devices running iOS 12 on even the oldest devices

AUGMENTED REALITY

A major update in iOS 12 is more AR support. Adobe took the stage to introduced simplified tools that will allow developers to create better AR experiences.

There's a new file format for AR, called USDZ, created in collaboration with Pixar.

A new app, Measure, will allow you to take measurements in real-time using an iOS device with AR. A demo was shown measuring a suitcase using just an iPhone X.

Support for shared experiences is announced - multiple users can see the same AR environment in real-time. This allows developers to create worlds that people can all see simultaneously.

LEGO took the stage to demo a shared AR LEGO app

PHOTOS

The Photos app gets new updates and features, starting with search. Search Suggestions will highlight things like key moments, places you've taken photos, business names, and events like concerts and sporting events. You can search for multiple terms, like surfing and vacation, to drill down into your library.

Effect suggestions give you reccomendations to edits you can make to your photos to make them even better.

Sharing suggestions will find people in your photos and allow you to share them with the folks who are in them. Shared photos are full resolution.

When you share, the receiver will also be given a suggestion to share photos from the same event with you.

SIRI

Siri Shortcuts allows you to pull in specific tasks from your apps. An example given was "I lost my keys" to have Siri activate your Tile hardware.

You can create your own Siri Shortcuts as well, so you can put together your own shortcut phrases.

A demo was shown using Siri Shortcuts - the user said "travel plans" and got their hotel reservation with an image, address, and check-in time from Siri

A "Heading Home" shortcut is able to set the home thermostat, play a podcast, send an ETA to a contact, and turn on a HomeKit fan. Very impressive stuff.

APPS

The News app gets an updated sidebar to make navigation easier

The Stocks app gets more granular vision to see stock performance. Apple News stories are now integrated into the Stocks app as well, giving you business news on the stocks that you follow.

The Stocks app now comes to iPad with iOS 12.

Voice Memos app also comes to iPad with iOS 12, with iCloud support built-in for syncing across devices.

iBooks becomes Apple Books with a redesigned app.

In iOS 12, CarPlay will support third-party navigation apps.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Do Not Disturb is updated to hide notifications at night, and in the morning hides notifications until you specify that you want to see them.

Do Not Disturb allows you to choose much more granular timeframes rather than just optimized for overnight.

Notifications can be turned on or off on a per-app basis right from the lock screen

Notifications can now be grouped by app, topic, or thread. With a swipe, you can dismiss an entire group of notifications.

A new feature called Screentime offers reports, giving a weekly summary that shows how you used your iOS device. This shows how much time you spend in each app, how often per hour you pick up your phone, and which apps are sending you the most notifications.

App Limits allows you to set a limited amount of time that you'd like to use specific apps per day.

Kids get activity reports too, and parents get reports on their own devices of their kids usage. Parents can also create downtime periods and app limits. This is setup through the Family Sharing interfaces.

MESSAGES

Animoji now support tongue detection for sticking tongues out

New ghost, koala, tiger, and T-Rex Animoji characters

Apple announces Memoji, allowing you to create your own customized 3D emoji character that looks like you

Memoji has a slick creator app to design your character

The Messages camera now includes effects, filters, stickers, and even Animoji and Memoji right in the camera

FACETIME

Apple announces Group FaceTime, which allows you to chat with up to 32 simultaneous participants

You can use both audio or video

FaceTime is integrated into Messages, allowing you to quickly do a Group FaceTime right from a group chat

A demo is shown, and as people speak, they become bigger on screen, or you can choose who to bring front and center

The same effects mentioned above in Messages also applies to the FaceTime camera

At WWDC 2018, Apple announced the next version of its desktop operating system for Macs, macOS Mojave. Here's what's new!

MACOS MOJAVE FEATURES

Apple starts by showing off a new Dark Mode for macOS. It changes the color of the app windows, toolbars, dock, and more.

Dynamic Desktop is a feature where your desktop wallpaper subtley changes throughout the day based on the time.

Desktop Stacks is a feature that groups all of the files, folders, and tags to auto-organize your desktop. Stack icons are also scrubbable.

The Finder gets a new view called Gallery view. Makes it easy to preview images, videos, PDFs, documents, etc.

New Finder sidebar to see the full metadata of any file(s) you have selected, along with quick actions along the bottom of the sidebar.

Markup has been added to Quick Look

New screenshots functionality - similar to iOS, the screenshot appears in the bottom corner of the screen, and when you click on it, you get a Quick Look with a bunch of readily-available tools

A new screenshot tool also allows for quick video recording

New Continuity Camerea feature allows you to use your iOS device as a camera to insert photos into Mac documents. This can also be used for document scanning from an iOS device into a Mac doc.

Enhanced eGPU support

APPS

The Apple News app is coming to the Mac in macOS Mojave

The Stocks app is also coming to the Mac in Mojave

Voice Memos will be part of Mojave as well, with iCloud syncing

Apple's Home app will ship with macOS Mojave, allowing you to control your smart home devices, along with Siri support

SECURITY AND PRIVACY

Apple is extending protection to Cameras, Microphones, Backups, Message history, and much more

In Safari, Apple is auto-hiding even more tracking scripts connected to like buttons and comment fields

Safari is also making it harder for trackers to create a fingerprint of your device, so your Mac appears to look like everyone else's Mac, making it harder for ad companies to track you

MAC APP STORE

Apple has completely redesigned the Mac App Store

Similar to iOS, the Mac App Store will feature editorials and stories

Videos of apps are built in to give a better idea of how the apps look and feel

More categories like Create, Work, Play, and Develop to easier find groups of apps

Microsoft is bringing Office 365 to the Mac App Store

Panic is bringing Transmit

BareBones bringing BBEdit

Adobe is bringing Lightroom

Apple also answered the question of whether they are merging macOS and iOS - the answer is "No!" However, Apple will be allowing iOS apps on the Mac through a new set of UI instructions. It starts in 2018 with News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos. In 2019, developers will have access to these tools as well.

In watchOS 5, you can challenge any friend to a seven day Activity challenge. You get shown where you stand in the competition, and earn awards in the Activity app.

There is now a new workout type for yoga. You can more accurately track yoga sessions.

Hiking gets a new workout type.

You can now track your rolling mile pace when running, along with steps per minute data.

Automatic Workout Detection where the watch will offer to start a workout with a notification when it senses a workout has started, and give you credit retroactively. watchOS will also auto-recognize when you end a workout if you forget.

CONNECTED FEATURES

watchOS 5 will have a Walkie-Talkie feature. You just press to talk, and the person on the other end can hear you immediately. You have to specifically enable the feature on a per-contact basis.

SIRI WATCH FACE

Siri watch face will integrate sports data, Siri shortcuts

Siri watch face will support third-party apps on watchOS 5

You no longer need to say "Hey Siri" when you raise your wrist to speak to the Watch

NOTIFICATIONS

Interactive notifications are now in watchOS 5. You can Apple Pay, check in, leave reviews, etc right from a notification.

watchOS 5 includes WebKit to see web content right on the Watch from an email or message.

PODCASTS

Apple Podcasts app will be available on watchOS 5, with full account syncing and Siri support.

APPS

Apps can include interactive controls right in an app. Do things like extend parking, order food, etc.

I've teamed up with Huawei to give away a Mate 10 Pro smartphone for Father's Day! The Huawei Mate 10 Pro features impeccable build quality, the 6-inch Huawei FullView display, the Mate 10 Pro camera system developed by Leica, and more! If you're looking for an Android smartphone that lives up to the term "flagship" to give to the dad in your life, you can't go wrong with a Mate 10 Pro.

To enter, just use the widget below to manage your entries. Good luck to all who enter!

The Geared Up Giveaway is back! We're giving Geared Up subscribers the chance to win an Oculus Go headset. See the bottom of this post for details on how to enter the giveaway.

High-end camera maker Red unveiled a mysterious new smartphone this week, and Geared Up co-host Andru Edwards was there for the hands-on experience. He said the new phone has some cool and exciting features, but also some strange ones.

Plus, Microsoft is once again trying to take on Apple's dominance in the tablet market. But can a new line of Surface devices make a real change?

We also dive into the hype around the Tesla Model 3, which is now rolling out to customers. Andru ordered his Model 3 more than two years ago and is picking it up in just a few days.

Listen to the episode in the player below or subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app.